black Lab puppy

Question
Our female just had a litter with 3 pups.  the runt was born without a tail.  He
seems healthy otherwise.  Have you ever heard of this before and should we
suspect other defects?  Many thanks

Answer
Sometimes these quirky things happen. There probably isn't anything else wrong with this pup, or the others. It's just one of those things that happen that you can't explain. You may want to take them into the vet for a check up just to be on the safe side. Sometimes these things just happen, a fluke. Or, the parents may carry a gene for this. You may want to look into their background and see if the stud dog has ever produced puppies like this before, or see if the mom's mom has ever had it happen to her. I know labs need their tails. :-) Good luck!